Put A Ring On It (32 page)

“Any way you do it is going to be painful, but she’ll get over it.”

“This situation I’m in is driving me nuts. Can we please drop the subject for now?”

Nivea sighed. She walked over to the sofa, sat down and began taking careful sips of the hot coffee. Knox ambled over with the bag of croissants. He sat next to Nivea and took a croissant out of the bag. Holding it between his thumb and index finger, he guided the pastry to Nivea’s mouth. “Take a bite.”

As if helpless to deny him, she opened her mouth. Knox eased the soft dough between her lips, sliding it in and out of her mouth. “Show me how you suck a dick.” His voice was coarse.

Spontaneous, Nivea sucked the warm pastry until it was soggy. Knox quickly retrieved another. “Lie down, Niv.” As if under his freaky spell, Nivea reclined. He eased her knees apart. “Open that pussy up for me.”

Nivea doubted if she’d get a good fuck from a damn pastry, but she stretched her pussy open until it was gaping, determined to do whatever it took to stop her sister’s wedding.

Vangie called in sick at her job. After dropping Yuri off at school, she pointed her car toward the expressway. Vangie mentally prepared herself to have to wait in long lines at Family Court, but getting back at Shawn would be worth a wait.

Now that he was working in a barbershop and no longer cutting hair in his mom’s basement, she had proof that he was earning an income. It was time to hit him up for all the back money he owed her. He was making a nice living now, but he spent it as fast as he made it. It wasn’t likely that Shawn had access to all the thousands of dollars that he owed in arrearages.

Vangie was not usually a vindictive person, but Shawn deserved to be punished for wasting her time and playing her. He knew the whole time that they were playing house that Vangie expected him to put a ring on her finger. She smiled a malicious smile.
I’m going to be laughing my ass off when they handcuff that slime ball and lock his ass up for back child support!

“How long will it take for him to get served with these papers?” Vangie asked the clerk.

“Not long,” the hard-faced woman answered without bothering to look up.

A week later, Shawn was bellowing into the phone. “What’s this shit?”

He got the papers! Yes!
Vangie pumped her fist and did a quick little dance, and then calmly said, “It’s time to pay up all that back child support.”

“What about everything I’ve been doing lately? All the money I’ve been giving you? Doesn’t that matter?”

“Too little, too late. See you in court, Shawn.” She hung up. Shawn called right back.

“Go ’head and play your little girl games. I just want to remind you that I’m picking Yuri up Friday night, so have him ready, please.”

“Nah, I don’t think so.”

“Whatchu mean?”

“Yuri needs to spend some time with his grandmother. I guess you can see him next weekend.”

“You don’t run shit, Vangie. Yuri’s my son, too.”

“All of a sudden, he’s your son, too. But couldn’t anybody find your ass when he was a baby. You didn’t want to be bothered when he was wearing diapers and going through the potty training phase. I had to deal with Yuri on my own for five long years.”

“I’m tired of you throwing that up in my face, Vangie.” Shawn blew out a hard breath. “You know what…fuck it. I’m not gon’ let you put me through this. I’m getting a lawyer.”

“What the hell do you think a lawyer can do for you? Can a lawyer make those thousands of dollars in arrearages disappear?”

“No, but a lawyer can make sure I have joint custody. I’m not going to keep listening to your mouth…and I’m not going to kiss your ass in order to see my son.”

“Whatever,” she said blithely. “See you in court, Shawn.” Vangie had a satisfied smile on her face when she hung up.

Yuri walked into the living room, looking worried. “Were you talking to my daddy?”

“Stop being so nosey, Yuri.”

“I heard you cussing, and then I heard you say my daddy’s name. I know you were talking to him.”

“And…”

“Is he picking me up this weekend?”

“No, he’s not.”

“Aw, man. Why not?” Yuri’s whined annoyingly.

“I have made plans for us.”

Yuri frowned excessively. “I want to be with my daddy at the barbershop.”

“Well, get over it. Missing one visit with your father isn’t the end of the world.”

“I don’t want to be stuck with you this weekend!” Yuri said defiantly.

“We’ll have fun, Yuri.”

“Doing what?”

Vangie shrugged. “I’ll think of something.”

“I have fun when my daddy takes me with him to Miss Eva’s house. Miss Eva has two puppies, and—”

“Do you mean to tell me your father has been taking you over that bitch’s house?”

Looking both startled and guilty, Yuri shrugged.

“Oh, that’s the end of your weekend visits. I’ll be damned if Shawn is going to drag you around while he’s chasing ass.”

Yuri looked afraid; tears began to fill his eyes. It wasn’t often that he heard his mother use foul language.

“That’s it!” Vangie waved her hand with finality. “You won’t
be spending another damn weekend with Shawn. You can cry all you want to, Yuri. I don’t care. I’m not letting your father expose you to every stank ho that crosses his path.”

Yuri stubbornly folded his arms. He gave his mother a hateful long stare. “You piss me off!”

Vangie leapt from the sofa. “Boy, are you crazy, talking to me like that? Do you want me to spank that butt?”

“It’s illegal to spank kids! I’m telling my daddy if you hit me.”

“Tell your daddy!” Vangie yelled as she grabbed Yuri by the arm, smacking his backside with the palm of her hand.

G
rumpily, Vangie emptied her purse of metal objects and deposited the items in the requisite plastic bin. Then she tossed her purse in another bin. Ironically, Vangie and Shawn’s court date was on Valentine’s Day, but instead of opening gifts, she was opening her coat and sliding it off, putting it through the metal detector. Ugh! All this searching was such a violation.

Vangie rolled her eyes when Shawn strolled inside the courtroom with his attorney at his side. Instead of looking sheepish like he should have, Shawn wore a smug expression, like
he
was the one seeking justice. His attorney was a woman! An experienced-looking, hard-as-nails, Hispanic attorney. Vangie sent the female attorney a hateful glare. That heifa should have been ashamed of herself for representing a deadbeat dad. But Shawn’s lawyer didn’t seem to be the least bit ashamed. She appeared feisty and aggressive, like she was ready to rumble.

It hadn’t occurred to Vangie to obtain legal representation. Hell, the petitioner in a child support case didn’t need a lawyer, did she? She looked around the courtroom nervously. Fuck it. She was her own mouthpiece, and she had a lot to say. Additionally, there was a ton of court documentation to back up her claims.

When a black female judge entered the courtroom, Vangie relaxed.
Shawn’s ass is going down!

Vangie and Shawn stood in front of the judge, and Vangie
hardly got an opportunity to talk about Shawn being wilfully in contempt of his child support order before his pit bull of an attorney said something about a Motion to Modify and started waving a document around.

“He can’t modify the money he owes me,” Vangie blurted, knowing nothing about legal terminology. “He owes me five years of back—” The judge banged her gavel, shutting Vangie’s tirade down.

Shawn’s attorney continued calmly, “My client is fully prepared to pay the back support, but he’d like to modify his future payments.”

The female pit bull presented the judge with some paperwork, which the judge looked over with a pair of glasses perched on the end of her nose.

“And the change of circumstances is?” the judge asked the pit bull.

“My client has his son in his custody every weekend.”

“Is that true, Ms. Samuels?”

“Well, yeah,” Vangie said hesitantly. “He usually picks our son up on Friday and takes him to school on Monday morning, but—”

“Fine,” the judge said, cutting Vangie off for the second time. “You two need to think about your son’s well-being and work this out. Get the joint custody papers in order,” the judge said in a scolding tone. Then she sent Vangie a particularly scathing look and said, “A mother should work along with a father who wants to participate in his son’s life.”

Why’s she acting like I’m the criminal here?
Vangie wondered.

“After you work out the custody arrangements, I want to see proof of income from both parents, as well as tax statements for the past two years,” the judge said, postponing the case.

Shawn had gotten a reprieve, but once the judge saw evidence
of Vangie’s paltry little salary, Shawn’s trifling butt was going to have to hand over a huge lump sum of money…or go straight to jail!

Not wanting to seem like an unreasonable, angry black woman and desiring to get on the judge’s good side, Vangie rode the elevator to another section of the Family Court building and grudgingly signed papers that allowed Shawn joint custody of Yuri. The custody order stipulated that Shawn was to pick Yuri up at six o’clock Friday evening and return him to his elementary school at eight-fifteen on Monday morning.

Outside the courthouse, it was biting cold and the hawk was out. The wind was so strong, it was rattling stops signs and blowing off hats.

Still, outdoor flower vendors were set up and racking up sales. In this cold and punishing weather, men stood in long lines to purchase a bouquet for their sweethearts. Vangie felt the sting of envy and averted her gaze, hunching up her shoulders as she hustled off to her car. She wondered what Shawn was getting his new girlfriend? Most likely, Miss Eva would be getting a pair of hooker heels and a very large bag from Victoria’s Secret.

* * *

After a month of therapy, Harlow and her psychiatrist had only scratched the surface, but Harlow left her therapist’s Eighth Avenue office with a great sense of accomplishment. Before getting treatment, she’d tried to suppress the painful memories. Now that she had finally begun to face her demons, she realized that there was no quick fix and no convenient pill that would instantly heal her emotional scars. She expected to be in therapy for several years. And that was okay with her.

When she exited the building, Drake was waiting outside. Drake was pure magnificence wearing a black cashmere coat, suit and tie, and dark shades. He was leaning against one of his cars—a Bentley—and holding an extra large bouquet of roses. “Happy Valentine’s Day,” he greeted.

“Oh, Drake, what a nice surprise. I don’t have your gift with me; it’s at the apartment.”

“You’re the only gift I need,” he replied, giving her a quick kiss and then handing her the bouquet.

“Thanks, honey,” she said as he opened the door for her. Living in New York with Drake was better than ever. Drake had been giving Alphonso more responsibility than usual so that he and Harlow could lead a more settled lifestyle.

“Did the session go okay?” Drake inquired, though he wasn’t prying.

“Yes, but healing is a slow process.”

Drake nodded.

“I like Dr. Thomas,” Harlow went on, her tone upbeat. “I’m really comfortable with him.”

“Really glad to hear that, baby.” Drake’s expression turned to serious as he merged into the aggressive New York City traffic. When he stopped at a traffic light, he retrieved a Tiffany’s box from his pocket. The box was tied with a single white ribbon. “Hope you like it.”

Inside the box was a cushion-cut pink sapphire ring, set in platinum. There was a paving of smaller pink sapphires extending halfway around the band.

“It’s beautiful, Drake. And I love pink! You have incredible taste,” Harlow said, sliding the ring out of the box and holding it up admiringly.

“I did my research,” Drake told her. “At one time pink sapphires were rare. Sapphires come in the palest yellow to the deepest green,
but pink is considered a romantic color used to demonstrate love.” He smiled and shrugged. “And I love you. So, I’m asking you for the second time, will you marry me?”

“Of course, I will,” Harlow exclaimed.